Marlins swept by Rays in two-game series, have lost 16 of last 18 against Tampa Bay
%20(2).JPG "Miami Marlins starting pitcher Cody Poteet (72) reacts after giving up five runs to the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, May 25, 2022, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O’Meara)")
Prior to starting a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field, Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly on Tuesday was asked what he thought was the biggest challenge of playing in the ballpark.
“Their club’s probably the biggest challenge,” Mattingly quipped.
He’s not wrong. The Rays have been perennial playoff contenders as of late. They’ve reached the postseason each of the last three years, won the American League East each of the past two seasons and advanced to the World Series in 2020.
The Marlins strive to be in the Rays’ position, a low-payroll team that is consistently viewed among one of the league’s best.
The past two games show the Marlins still have a ways to go in their quest to catch their in-state rival.
The Rays swept the Marlins in their two-game series, with Miami falling 5-4 on Wednesday after opening the short set with a 4-0 defeat on Tuesday.
Miami has now lost 16 of its last 18 against Tampa Bay since 2019, when the Rays’ current run of playoff appearances began.
“We’ve got to get better,” Mattingly said pregame Wednesday. “Their club’s been on the rising side of it. We’ve been down. Hopefully we’re on the way up and can make it more competitive.”
The Marlins (18-24) briefly made it competitive on Wednesday despite falling into an early hole. The Rays (26-17) scored five runs on Cody Poteet in the first inning on a Wander Franco RBI double, Randy Arozarena two-run double and Harold Ramirez two-run home run. Poteet settled in after that, retiring eight of the final 10 Rays batters he faced before the bullpen followed with five scoreless innings.
Miami then got three of those runs back with a fourth-inning rally. Jorge Soler blasted a solo home run to right-center — his team-leading ninth of the season — before a Jacob Stallings double plated Avisail Garcia and Brian Anderson, both of whom hit singles.
The deficit was trimmed to one in the ninth when Anderson hit a leadoff single, got to third on a two-base error on a Bryan De La Cruz groundball and scored when Miguel Rojas reached on a Wander Franco throwing error. A Garrett Cooper two-out walk loaded the bases, but Jesus Aguilar struck out swinging to end the game.
The Marlins had other key chances to score runs that fell short.
In the second, they had runners on first and second with two outs in the top of the second after Anderson and Jesus Sanchez walked. Rojas then hit a single to right. Third base coach Al Pedrique stopped Anderson at third. Sanchez overran second and was tagged out trying to get back to end the threat.
In the seventh, Sanchez hit a leadoff double to right-center but was stranded as the next three hitters recorded outs.
And in the eighth, what appeared to be Soler’s second home run of the game that hugged the left-field foul pole was called foul.
It was an upgrade from the Marlins’ showing on Tuesday, when they were shut out for the third time this season and recorded just five hits, but still not enough to get a win against the Rays.
Injuries hampering Marlins
It’s worth remembering the Marlins were without three of their top position players both days of the Rays series. Jazz Chisholm Jr. rode the bench both Tuesday and Wednesday while dealing with a left hamstring injury sustained on Sunday. Joey Wendle (right hamstring strain) and Jon Berti (returning to baseball shape after testing positive for COVID-19) are on the injured list.
All three are close to returning, though.
Chisholm fielded ground balls and took batting practice on Wednesday after doing neither on Tuesday. Wendle and Berti both played in rehab assignments games with the Single A Jupiter Hammerheads on Tuesday and Wednesday and could be cleared to return as early as Friday when the Marlins begin a three-game series with the Atlanta Braves on Friday at Truist Park.
This and that
▪ The Marlins on Wednesday placed right-handed pitcher Anthony Bender on the 15-day injured list with back stiffness and selected the contract of utility infielder Willians Astudillo to fill Bender’s spot on the active roster.
▪ A Max Meyer update: The plan is for him to begin throwing from flat ground Thursday. He remains on the minor-league injured list with ulnar nerve irritation.
This story was originally published May 25, 2022 at 9:45 PM.
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